Posts Tagged ‘Whole Health Source’

Are we getting fatter because there is just a lot more irresistibly delicious food around us? Does that explain the obesity crisis?

That theory has been around the block but it is in fashion again. In 2009, David Kessler’s book, “The End of Overeating” put forward the thesis that food in contemporary American food has been deliberately engineered–by adding fat, sugar and salt–to exploit our neurochemistry and hijack our free will.

More recently, one of the luminaries of the Paleo movement, Stephan Guyenet, has formulated his own version of this theory, in a compelling series on his Whole Health Source blog, arguing that “food reward” is a main driver of obesity. His prescription: eat a bland diet. Guyenet’s talk about this at the Ancestral Health Symposium last month is the buzz of the paleosphere.

But I think the theory is wrong, for the simple reason that it too blindly takes correlation for causation. And in doing so, it gets the causal direction mostly wrong. We don’t get fat because food has become too tasty. Rather, to a large extent, it is the metabolism and dietary habits of the obese that make food taste too good to resist, leading to insatiable appetites. And the good news is that we are not consigned to blandness. If we eat and exercise sensibly, we can eat flavorful, delicious foods and enjoy life, without packing on the pounds.

What this blog is about

Getting Stronger is a blog about the philosophy of Hormetism, based on the application of progressive, intermittent stress to overcome challenges and grow stronger physically, mentally and emotionally. For additional background, click here for the OVERVIEW and AUTHOR pages.
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